Worry of score-settling brews within the coronary heart of Assad’s Alawite nation

Noor shivers within the chilly afternoon gentle of the courtyard, not from the chilly, however from worry.

Wearing her thick winter coat, she got here to complain to the lads of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the brand new de facto leaders of Syria, and the brand new regulation in place.

She begins to cry as she explains that three days earlier, shortly earlier than 9 within the night, armed males had arrived in a black van at her condominium in an upscale neighborhood within the metropolis of Latakia. Along with her kids and her husband, a military officer, she was compelled to exit into the road in her pajamas. The chief of the gunmen then moved his circle of relatives into her residence.

Noor – not his actual identify – is Alawite, the minority sect from which the Assad household comes and to which many members of the political and navy elite of the outdated regime belonged. The Alawites, whose sect is an offshoot of Shiite Islam, characterize round 10% of Syria’s predominantly Sunni inhabitants. Latakia, on Syria’s northwest Mediterranean coast, is their heartland.

As in different cities, many insurgent teams rushed into the ability vacuum left by Assad’s troopers who deserted their posts. The regime had exploited sectarian divisions to take care of its maintain on energy. In the present day, the Sunni Islamist group HTS is dedicated to respecting all religions in Syria. However the Alawite inhabitants of Latakia is fearful.

Some folks haven’t even left their properties for the reason that regime change as a result of they worry accountability and that they must pay a heavy value for supporting the outdated regime.

Noor reveals CCTV footage from his condominium to Abu Ayoub, 34, commander of HTS common safety. Within the movie, a gaggle of bearded fighters, some sporting baseball caps and others in navy fatigues, are proven exterior his door.

They don’t come from HTS, she stated, however from one other group, rebels from town of Aleppo, within the north of the nation.

“They broke down the door. There have been 10 activists at our door and 16 others ready on the road with three vehicles,” Noor informed Abu Ayoub. His males come principally from Idlib and Aleppo, the place HTS and allied insurgent factions have been based mostly earlier than launching the offensive that toppled Assad three weeks in the past. They stand, in fight gear, holding their rifles and listening intently as she describes how the household’s belongings have been thrown into the road.

HTS was as soon as allied with Al Qaeda and continues to be banned as a terrorist group by most Western international locations, though the UK and US say they’ve been in touch with the group. In a matter of weeks, he went from being an enemy of the state to the regulation of the land. Abu Ayoub and his males adapt to the change in roles, going from revolutionaries to policemen.

Noor is only one of many complainants who’ve come to their common safety publish to air their grievances. The bottom, town’s former navy intelligence headquarters, was maybe essentially the most feared place in Latakia. In the present day it is a catastrophe, with damaged radios and tools strewn throughout the yard. Torn portraits of Bashar al-Assad lie within the floor.

A person joins the road of complainants. He has a black eye, damaged ribs and his shirt is torn and bloody. He claims that males from Idlib had damaged into his condominium.

“A few of them have been civilians, others wore navy clothes and have been masked,” he explains. “They hit my daughter and pointed their weapons at my son’s head. They stole cash, they stole gold.”

Each name here’s a present of power, particularly within the face of the big variety of armed teams current within the metropolis. Led by the person’s son, HTS safety forces head towards one of many poorer neighborhoods, weaving by a maze of alleys, previous junkyards and dumps.

Armed police take up positions alongside the road and on the entrance to the condominium. They convey two suspects again to the police station for questioning.

However they barely have time to empty their weapons when a brand new grievance breaks out, an argument over gasoline bottles which left one other man overwhelmed.

He claims that three males pointed weapons at him.

One other automobile race to a busy business and residential space. When the police take a suspect out into the road – his face nonetheless bloody from the sooner combat – the ladies of the neighborhood come to their balconies and shout “Shabiha! Shabiha!”. They accuse the suspect of being a member of a shadowy militia, made up principally of Alawite males, who did the Assad regime’s soiled work.

Since its lightning victory in Syria, Islamist HTS has pledged to take care of peace and defend all the nation’s minorities. And day by day, Abu Ayoub should preserve this dedication.

“Some infiltrators within the revolution, some saboteurs and a few weak-minded persons are making the most of the scenario within the just lately liberated areas,” he says.

Abu Ayoub admits that the scenario within the metropolis was “a bit chaotic” however turns his consideration to Noor. “We’re right here now, we weren’t right here when the military left. We have been first in Damascus, then we arrived. They’re thugs, and we’ll kick them out of your home. We provides you with again your issues .You might have my phrase,” he stated. And with that, he orders his males into their vans and, with sirens blaring, they head towards the condominium.

Latakia is a liberated metropolis. Final Friday, tens of hundreds of individuals of all faiths gathered within the streets to rejoice the autumn of the Assad dynasty. In a city sq., they sat atop the plinth the place the statue of Hafez al-Assad, Bashar’s father – who dominated for 29 years earlier than his dying in 2000 – as soon as stood and joyfully waved the flag of a free Syria.

The message of that day was unity, a single Syria, with out sectarian divisions. However after half a century of tyrannical rule by a regime that stoked sectarian hatred and warned that Alawites could be massacred in the event that they misplaced energy, it’s an adjustment to say the least.

On Saturday, three HTS fighters have been killed and 14 others injured exterior town in what he referred to as a shootout with a legal gang. HTS, which is attempting to take care of calm, says there was no sectarian aspect within the assault.

On the best way to Noor’s condominium, the HTS convoy speeds by the streets and passers-by applaud them and wave the peace signal.

The brand new Syrian flag, with its inexperienced stripe as an alternative of pink and three pink stars as an alternative of two inexperienced ones, is commonplace on retailer shutters and hanging from balconies. However in Alawite areas, most individuals watch in silence because the convoy passes. There are fewer new flags in proof.

Azam al-Ali, 28, an HTS safety guard from Deir al-Bitter, japanese Syria, sits within the entrance seat. After a lot oppression, he says, it would take time for folks to belief authority once more.

“A lot of the oppressed who file complaints belong to 2 sects, the Sunnis and the Alawites. We don’t make a distinction. However the excessive poverty that this regime has left behind has precipitated this huge chaos,” he informed me then. that the convoy was transferring. .

And he notes that Alawites, a few of whom have been among the many poorest in Syria, additionally suffered underneath Assad’s rule.

We arrive at Noor’s condominium and half a dozen armed HTS males rush up the steps.

The lady behind the door refuses to open, however after some negotiation, the door opens and she or he and her household are ordered to depart. Noor goes in to get garments and books for her daughter who’s finding out for her exams. Weapons and ammunition belonging to insurgent squatters are confiscated.

“Once I went to HTS right now, I used to be terrified,” Noor stated. “Their look was so intimidating and scary. Truthfully, they have been very good.”

However she will not come again to the condominium. One nightmare is over in Syria, and for the Alawites, one other has begun, she stated.

As she grabs her issues, Noor says she now not feels protected in her residence.

“It is unattainable for me to reside right here once more. I’ve hope, however not within the close to future. For the second, I do not dare.”